1678 Kediri campaign

Kediri campaign
Part of the Trunajaya rebellion
VOC troops storming Trunajaya's stronghold in Kediri. Depicted in an 1890 Dutch children's novel.
Date August–December 1678 (entire campaign) 25 November 1678 (the assault on Kediri) Location Java (in modern-day Indonesia), particularly East Java Main fighting in Kediri, East Java Result Mataram–VOC victory
Belligerents
Mataram Sultanate Dutch East India Company (VOC)	Forces of Trunajaya
Commanders and leaders
Amangkurat II Anthonio Hurdt Isaac de Saint Martin François Tack	Trunajaya Raden Suradipa †
Strength
Fluctuating between 1,000–13,000[1] 1,750[2]	1,000 (according to VOC–Mataram)[2] 14,500 (according to the rebels)[2]

In a campaign that took place from August to December 1678 in Kediri (in modern-day East Java, Indonesia) during the Trunajaya rebellion, the forces of the Mataram Sultanate, led by Amangkurat II, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC), led by Anthonio Hurdt, marched inland into eastern Java against Trunajaya's forces. After a series of marches beset by logistical difficulties and harassment by Trunajaya's forces, the Mataram–VOC army crossed the Brantas River on the night of 16–17 November. They then marched on Trunajaya's capital and stronghold at Kediri and took it by direct assault on 25 November. Kediri was plundered by the Dutch and Javanese victors, and the Mataram treasury—captured by Trunajaya after his victory at Plered—was completely lost in the looting. Trunajaya himself fled Kediri and continued his greatly weakened rebellion until his capture at the end of 1679.

During the march to Kediri, the Mataram–VOC army purposefully split itself into three columns which took different, indirect routes to Kediri, as suggested by Amangkurat. This enabled the army to meet more factions and to win over those with wavering allegiance, swelling its forces. The army marched through areas previously unexplored by the Dutch. The Dutch account was recorded in a journal by Hurdt's secretary Johan Jurgen Briel. Accounts of the campaign also appear in the Javanese chronicles, known as babads.